Think.Eat.Save. The people behind World Environment Day this year have most certainly deliberately left out the spaces between the words. Perhaps so that we make the connection between our food choices and the larger impacts of these choices—and realize that the connection is too close for comfort and also too close to keep ignoring.

For a moment, let’s not ask why the food was wasted in the first place. Or how many hungry mouths the wasted food could have fed. Let’s only be bothered about what happens when the wasted food is thrown away.
Well, it breaks down in landfill, together with other organic materials, and becomes the main contributor to the generation of methane – a powerful greenhouse gas nearly 25 times stronger than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere. This process of global warming is not invisible or abstract.

Further, the breakdown of food waste in landfills releases nutrients, which can migrate out of the waste and into the surrounding environment. Too many nutrients can pollute our groundwater and waterways.

Next, let’s consider the food production lifecycle, or supply chain. Soils, water, natural resources and energy are used to plant, harvest, transport, process, package, distribute and market our food products. When food is wasted, all of these resources are lost—but not without contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. This includes direct emissions from agriculture and those attributed to energy, transport, food production, processing and distribution. In particular, consider the cost of transporting food from farm to processor, wholesaler to restaurant, store to households – and finally, from garbage bins to landfills.

The Numbers Are Innocent – We Are Not

The numbers in the public archive on how much food is wasted globally on an annual basis are capable of inducing anything from a grimace to a jaw drop, to sarcasm even. Many of us may even find the scenario surreal, especially when the numbers are presented in relative terms – for example, every year, consumers in rich countries waste almost as much food (222 million tonnes) as the entire net food production of sub-Saharan Africa (230 million tonnes).

That said, numbers ought to make one wary too, for these are inherently distant, clinical, unreal even. One may be lulled into a false sense of security or into a convenient space of feeling oneself to be ‘too small to make a difference’.

Indeed, what about those oft-felt sentiments of ‘what am I but a speck of sand in this vastness’ and ‘what difference in the universe’s name will my standalone action make?’ Or, if one wants to appear particular, put it on the government. It’s their responsibility, right? Well, not quite so. For one, the government does not make our shopping list. Secondly, we do tend to throw a lot of good food that is still edible because of overstocking, cosmetic blemishes, misinformation, or plain ignorance if not indifference.

Write a list

Check the ingredients in the cupboards and the refrigerator prior to writing the shopping list. This way we could avoid buying extra stuff. How often does the homemaker feel surprise/regret on noticing that the earlier packet of besan/ flour is almost crossing the ‘use by’ dates?
Also, check perishable items at home before buying again. Don’t let a spotty soft banana, bruised apple, or dry bread go into the bin.

The Action Begins at Home
Food waste can be minimized at home, in retail stores, and in restaurants. For example, grocery chains can mitigate wasting food by sorting out the spoiled food by separating it for organic usage. Furthermore, packaging foods in smaller quantities can eliminate or at least shorten food waste.

As consumers, when we begin to understand that food waste is something within our control—and not as intimidating as acting against the ozone layer depletion—we can simply begin by disciplining aspects of our purchase, consumption and disposal habits. To start with, why not simply buy less? Buying in smaller quantities means that we will most likely at least finish eating the food and throw out less.  It follows that the process of packaging food differently can save money and waste not only for the consumer but the producer as well, and even more importantly, this process is environment-friendly. For the producer, the gains accrue in terms of less transporting and storage costs. Studies (including Global Food Losses and Food Waste – FAO, 2011) have shown that in developing countries food waste and losses occur mainly at early stages of the food value chain and can be traced back to financial, managerial and technical constraints in harvesting techniques as well as storage and cooling facilities. Thus, a strengthening of the supply chain through support to farmers and investments in infrastructure and transportation could help to reduce the amount of food loss and waste.

In medium- and high-income countries, on the other hand, food is wasted and lost mainly at later stages in the supply chain. The behaviour of consumers plays a huge part in industrialized countries. The website of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) quotes a recent study that has revealed that worldwide about one-third of all food produced gets lost or wasted in the food production and consumption systems – and that almost half of this quantity is the result of retailers and consumers in industrialized regions discarding food that is fit for consumption. Raising awareness among industries, retailers and consumers as well as finding beneficial uses for food that is presently thrown away are useful measures to decrease the amount of losses and waste.

Write a kitchen diary
Maintain a kitchen diary that shows how much food moves uneaten into the garbage bin.

Beauty fixation
Supermarkets are found to be responsible for huge amounts of food wastages due to their emphasis on cosmetic appearance of food products. Their criterion for rejecting products from suppliers on grounds of appearance of produce promotes chemical-intensive farming among farmers, which has adverse environmental and health effects in addition to being financially unattractive.

Rotate
Another good idea – especially if you stock processed food in big refrigerators – is to rotate the stuff once in a while to bring out the perishable packets to the front while placing the recent food towards the back.

Quick action plan: easier than i thought

A) Buy what i need

•  Plan
•  Make a list
•  Be realistic about how much I need
•  Resist temptation to overbuy something that’s on sale

B) Eat what i buy

•  Use what spoils first
•  Not to prepare too much
•  Eat leftovers

C) Keep them fresh

•  Store foods to keep them fresh as long as possible

D) Not to toss it before it spoils

•  Be aware of food-expiration dates
•  Understand shelf-life limits
•  Use preservation methods: freezing, canning, drying, pickling, etc.

E) Not to think trash

•  Share extra food before it spoils
•  Compost inedible food

The consumption value chain

However, the rest of us can hardly afford to feel sanctimonious or be complacent by putting all blame and responsibility at the door of the rich countries. As emerging economies like India come up the value chain, it may be safely assumed that their increasingly larger numbers of prosperous middle classes and the rich/super-rich will start showing behaviour similar to their counterparts in industrialized countries.

Statistics on how many tonnes of quality food are wasted in restaurants, make-shift food joints, social gatherings and households remind us that food waste is happening all around us. In 2011, India’s Food Minister KV Thomas had said that around 100,000 weddings and social events were held in the country every day. He remarked that food wasted each day at weddings and family functions in Mumbai alone would be enough to feed the city’s vast slum population.

Prevent storage losses if any

When grains and pulses are purchased in large quantities, keep a tablet of insect/weevil repellents in the container. Products such as sooji and dalia when stored for a longer period can be roasted lightly to prevent weevil infestation.

What is a food bank?

A food bank is a nonprofit distribution enterprise that serves the community through institutional feeding programmes. This acquires donated food in the form of grains, pulses, oil, spices, etc., sourced on the basis of community food habits and makes these available through a network of community-owned agencies. These institutional feeding programmes include school feeding programmes, after-school programmes, shelter homes, old-age homes and substance abuse clinics.

Keep an eye on the serving portion

Be wary of the quantity of food that goes onto the plate. Cultivate the habit of refilling only when the plate is cleared. Do not overestimate and tend to be generous what the guests and children can have at a time. By this, one can discourage children form overeating too.

Make compost

As much as 30 per cent of household waste can be diverted away from garbage when composting is done at home. Table scraps, fruit and vegetable scraps, crushed egg shells, tea leaves, stalks and coffee grounds are some of the materials that are good for making compost.
It is not difficult to make compost at homes. All that is required is a large drum or tin to hold the soil and the scraps together for decomposition to happen. You may take help from garden associations or look for information on the Internet.

Where is the linkage?

It is true that people cannot be forced to cut back on wasteful displays of food and spending, but if there is a way to get them thinking about the enormous amounts of food that get wasted, it will at least be a beginning. Concurrent with that must be the facilitation of system linkages including food waste collection services and observance of best practices in diverting the waste food to its best use – for instance, whether it will go towards feeding the hungry or be used as animal feed or nutrient-rich compost. There are also options to convert fats, oils, and grease (FOG) to biodiesel, replacing fossil fuel use. So far, efforts to pick up the leftovers and distribute them to the poor have not taken off in India due to lack of infrastructure. Many of us would think that there would be NGOs to provide a linkage between giver and needy ones. In India, though, practically no such NGO exists to pick up the surplus at all times.

So, what happened to Delhi Food Bank, launched as part of the India Food Banking Network (IFBN) with much fanfare in 2012 by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Sam Pitorda, Advisor to the Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations? Delhi was to be the first city in the country to set up food banks through which excess cooked and uncooked food would be collected from wedding receptions, parties, social functions, hotels and individual donors for distribution among hungry and poor people.

The scheme was modelled on the lines of food banks in Chicago in the United States where community groups ran them to feed hungry people by collecting excess food from hotels and wedding receptions, and through voluntary donations from individuals as well as various organizations. In fact, Delhi Food Bank was planned to be the prototype that IFBN would seek to modify, strengthen and replicate at a national level, so that by 2020 every district of India had access to a food bank.

We were informed that the infrastructure for collecting and distributing the food was being developed in cooperation with Delhi Government, DLF Foundation, Reliance Foundation and Cargill India. Donors of food only needed to send an sms to 58888, following which IFBN volunteers would collect the food items, while those who needed food could also send sms to same number.
As of today, Delhi Food Bank collects only non-perishables, not cooked food. The latter requires infrastructure like refrigeration, especially when the calls are received past the meal times. Furthermore, organizations are looking for regular and sustainable supply of excess food.

Expect the waste 

Whenever we are planning a wedding, a party, or some such similar gathering, some amount of surplus food is inevitable. Suppose we plan ahead by identifying the needy in nearby areas for distributing the excess food? Would not that be a practical, engaging and effective way of participating in the food drive?

Waste as opportunity

Waste represents both a problem and an opportunity. At current levels, production, consumption and waste disposal patterns are not in sync with sustainable living. To drastically reduce waste generation, we need to make products with fewer natural resources and also break the link between economic growth and waste growth. Most products should be reused or their materials recycled.
The benefit of being at the minimal level of the waste hierarchy will not just be environmental. Waste is a drag on the economy. We can save money by making products with fewer natural resources, and we can reduce the costs of waste treatment and disposal.

Raw fruits and vegetables may be better for your mental health than cooked ones, according to a new study from the University of Otago in New Zealand. The study, published in Frontiers in Psychology, found that people who ate more uncooked produce had lower levels of symptoms related to depression and other mental illnesses, compared to those who ate more cooked, canned, or processed fruit and vegetables.

The study was only able to show an association between raw produce and better mental health, not a cause-and-effect relationship. But the researchers say the link could have to do with the fact that many fruits and vegetables have more nutrients in their natural state—and that those nutrients may have a positive impact on mood and brain chemistry. They studied 400 people from New Zealand and the US aged 18 to 25 as this age group typically had the lowest fruit and vegetable consumption and were at high risk of mental health disorders.

Lead author and psychology professor Dr Tamlin Conner says public-health campaigns have historically focused on quantity of fruit and vegetables but the researchers suggest it is important to consider the way produce is prepared.

The top 10 raw foods related to better mental health are: carrots, bananas, apples, dark leafy greens such as spinach, grapefruit, lettuce, citrus fruits, fresh berries, cucumber, and kiwifruit.

“This research is increasingly vital as lifestyle approaches such as dietary change may provide an accessible, safe, and adjuvant approach to improving mental health,” Dr Conner says.

The researchers say their findings are important because most current health guidelines do not distinguish between raw and cooked or canned fruits and vegetables. “If our patterns are confirmed in intervention studies, it would suggest that heath policies could focus on promoting the consumption of raw and unprocessed produce for optimal well-being,” they wrote in their paper.

Summer months in India are from April- July and one has to eat right to prevent any stomach prone diseases. To battle any effects of the digestive system one must include fluids in their diet. Tea and coffee should be avoided. Drinking a good amount of water is key to fighting 90% of the diseases. Avoid fatty and fried foods, as they tend to heat up your body. One should also include foods with more fibre, like oats, barley and wheat. Have watermelon, cucumber and seasonal fruits like mangoes. Eating light is essential, else the body can generate excess heat that results in sleeplessness, exhaustion, inflammation, stomach upset and acidity. One has to keep a check on their diet during the summer months.

Here is a list of foods to avoid this summer:

1. Fried Food:  At any point junk food is not advisable, however in summer months one has to take more precautions. Fried food is soaked in oil and often undercooked leading to chances of having indigestion and food poisoning. The excess oil shows on your skin as well. Keep away from the french fries, burgers and hot dogs.
2. Spicy Food: The spices increase the heat quotient in the body. We all love our spicy food but such foods are best to be avoided during summers. Spices like chilli, ginger, nutmegs, mustard, pepper, cumin and cinnamon create heat and are known to boost the metabolism rate.
3. Red Meat: Red meat like mutton, lamb, and pork are high in saturated fat that increases blood cholesterol. It is heavy and takes longer to digest. So it’s recommended to avoid red meat during the scorching heat.
4. Dried Fruits: Another must avoid this season are nuts. They take longer to digest and generate heat in the body. They do wonders in winters, but not required during the summer months. One can opt for fresh fruits.
5. Sea Food: Sea Food eaten at the wrong time can lead to food poisoning. If the seafood is not fresh, it can give way to severe gastric problems, diarrhoea and skin eruptions as well.
6. Sweet & Caffeinated drinks: Drinks with high sugar such as iced tea are not good during the summers.  Drinks like aerated colas, sherbets, and fruit punches lead to an increase in calorie intake which also dehydrates our body and affects the kidneys. Tea and coffee should be avoided as well, which can cause dehydration.

Quality, safety and preservation of food products are universal concerns. Food producers and handlers use antimicrobial agents to prevent spoilage of food as well as to prevent food-borne illnesses. Antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics and anti-fungal drugs extend the shelf life of food products. Now, there are two sides to the use of such drugs. On the one hand, their increasing use may have helped in addressing food-borne illnesses and given us food products with longer shelf life, but on the other hand this has triggered a situation where constant exposure has made human beings resistant to these drugs. This article explains the implications of such antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and why it is a major concern.

For one, constant exposure to antimicrobial agents damages the microbes that are helpful and in fact are needed for certain biological processes to happen in human beings (lactobacillus, for example, lives in the intestine and helps digest food). Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a more severe result of such exposure. Repeated, improper use of antibiotics—in both humans and animals—drives drug resistance among microbes and has made some of them virtually indestructible to modern medicine.

So, what exactly is antimicrobial resistance?

Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of bacteria/viruses/fungi/some parasites to survive the impact of antimicrobial agents (antibiotics, anti-fungal agents or antiviral agents) if they are constantly exposed to the same. All living beings have the ability to adapt. This is how species survive. So, if a microbe is constantly being exposed to an antimicrobial agent, it will eventually adapt and evolve to become more or fully resistant to antimicrobials that could previously treat it.

Why is antimicrobial resistance bad?

If a microbial species gets resistant to the antimicrobial agent, it makes the standard antimicrobial treatment ineffective. This results in non-treatment of the communicable disease caused by the microbial agent. It is important to note that the drug-resistant microbe reproduces and multiplies to form more drug-resistant microbes.  The resistant bacteria can be transferred to humans through the food chain or direct contact. This can reduce the effectiveness of antimicrobials in treating diseases.

The infection spreads and it gets difficult to control it as the drug-resistant microbe spreads from one individual to another. As per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), AMR accounts for 23,000 deaths per year in the United States.

Among the microbes that are now resistant to antimicrobial agents are some bacterial strains of salmonella and staphylococcus (both associated with food-borne illnesses and other infectious diseases).

What causes antimicrobial resistance?

Although antimicrobial resistance occurs in nature on its own, careless use and overuse of antimicrobial agents can accelerate the process. Antimicrobial resistance can be associated with factors such as over-prescription of antimicrobial agents such as antibiotics, consumption of antibiotics when one is suffering from viral infections such as common cold and flu, patients not sticking to the prescribed antimicrobial drug course, overuse of antimicrobial agents in animal agriculture, poor hygiene and sanitation practices that lead to frequent infections that in turn need antimicrobial drugs, poor infection control in healthcare settings which lead to spread of drug-resistant microbes, absence of new discoveries of  antimicrobial drugs, and so on.  

Suppose an antimicrobial agent is given to an animal over a long period of time. Let’s see what may happen as a result–

As this animal is exposed to a microbial regularly for a long period of time, the antimicrobials may not work when the animal catches an infection that is difficult to cure. Worse, the infection can spread to other animals.

Prolonged consumption of food products derived from such animals (egg, meat, dairy, etc.) by human beings can lead to development of antimicrobial resistance in the latter as well. When a human being catches an infection, the regular antimicrobial treatment course or dosage may not be effective enough.

Biopreservation and how it can help

Biopreservation refers to the technique of extending the shelf life of food by using natural or controlled microorganisms or their antimicrobial compounds or fermentation products. The fermentation products as well as beneficial bacteria are generally selected in this process to control spoilage and render pathogen inactive. Microbes that are harmless to humans, compete with spoilage and pathogenic bacteria, generate good odour, contribute in production of nice flavour, produce acids, antimicrobial substances and have fermentation capacity are used rather than those that have only fermentation property.

Certain lactic acid bacteria (LAB), with antimicrobial properties commonly associated with foods, are being used to increase the safety and/or prolong the shelf life of foods. Microbes thrive on nutrients to grow and multiply, and the presence of other microbes will necessarily limit the amount of nutrients available overall and thereby slow down the process of spoilage.

Compiled by Richa Pande

As organic food products start to find their way into more and more homes across India, the market suddenly seems to be inundated with all things ‘organic’. In at least some instances, the claims are clearly misleading and not entirely believable. To curb such false claims as also the sale of foods that aren’t organically grown, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) rolled out the Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations in 2017. It also launched a logo with the tagline Jaivik Bharat. Read on to understand the key features of the regulations, which came into force on 1 January 2019.

The Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations, 2017, recognize two established systems of organic certification:

1. Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS- India) implemented by the ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare
2. National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) implemented by the ministry of commerce and industry

Let’s look at the key features of the new regulations:

• Organic food that is marketed through direct sales by the small original producer or producer organisation — as determined by the food authority from time to time — to the end consumer shall be exempted from the above-mentioned systems.
• The organic food shall comply with relevant provisions as applicable under Food Safety and Standards (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011, except for residues of insecticides for which the maximum limits shall be five per cent of the maximum limits prescribed or level of quantification (LoQ), whichever is higher.
• The seller of organic food shall display such food in a manner that is distinguishable from the display of non-organic food.
• FSSAI’s organic logo (Jaivik Bharat) and FSSAI license number present on the food labels will indicate whether the product is organic.

What are organic foods?

Organic foods can be defined as food products that are grown or reared and processed without using hazardous chemicals and pesticides. If grown adequately, organic foods can be helpful in preventing health disorders linked with these chemicals.

The growth of organic products relies on biofertilisers such as compost, manure and bone meal. It puts emphasis on techniques such as crop rotation and mixed cropping. Biological pest control – that is, use of living organisms to address problems such as mites, insects and weeds – is encouraged in organic farming.

Certification marks on the food label

The new regulations define the terms that can be used on food labels as well as the criterion.

• Under NPOP certification system
  1. A single-ingredient product that meets the requirements (specified standards) can be labelled as ‘organic’.
  2. A multi-ingredient product in which 95 per cent of ingredients are of certified origin can be labelled as ‘certified organic’.
• Under PGS-India certification system
  1. A single-ingredient product that meets all requirements (specified standards) may be labelled as ‘PGS Organic’.

The new FSSAI organic-food certification mandates the presence of the Jaivik Bharat logo along with the FSSAI logo and license number of the product. In addition, the label may carry India Organic logo (NPOP-certified) or PGS India Organic logo, whichever is applicable.

Organic-food domain in india: a timeline

1. Ecomark (1991): This is a certification mark issued by the Bureau of Indian Standards to products that conform to a set of standards aiming at the least negative impact on the ecosystem.
2. 2002: National Standards for Organic Products are released.
3. India Organic (comes into effect in 2002): This is a certification mark for food items that are grown and manufactured organically in India.
4. 2003: The chief mister of Sikkim PawanChamling announces the vision for Sikkim to be India’s first organic state.
5. 2005: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), and the ministry of agriculture in India initiate consultations with various stakeholders to identify alternative certification systems that are inclusive of the many small farmers and peasants in the country.
6. 2006: PGS Organic India Council is set up.
7. Food Safety and Standards Act 2006: It mentions about the purchase and import of novel foods, genetically modified articles of food, irradiated foods, organic foods, foods for special dietary uses, functional foods, nutraceuticals, health supplements, proprietary foods, etc.
8. 2016: Sikkim becomes India’s first organic state.
9. November 2017: Food Safety and Standards (Organic Foods) Regulations, 2017, and Jaivik Bharat logo are launched at the 19th World Organic Congress.
10. 2018: Sikkim state wins Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Future Policy Gold Award for the world’s best policies promoting agroecological and sustainable food systems.

Food fortification is the process of adding one or more essential nutrients to the food to make sure that there is no deficiency of any nutrient. Though there is no doubt that there are immense benefits of food fortification, the process is not always harmless. Read on to know what are the benefits of food fortification and how can you make the most of it as a consumer.

BENEFITS OF FOOD FORTIFICATION

• Food fortification can help in stopping many neural tube defects. These are birth defects associated with the spine or brain.
• This process can also help prevent many deficiencies like iron deficiencies in kids and vitamin D deficiencies in women.
• This is an excellent way of ensuring that a country has a healthier population as a large section of the population makes use of foods that have been fortified.
• Most food fortification processes don’t pose a health risk to people as the quantities are quite small and the fortification process is regulated by prescribed standards.
• An overdose of nutrients is not very likely as regulations control how much fortification is to be done and quality checks are regularly done.
• People who are consuming fortified foods don’t need to change their food habits or patterns.
• Most societies and cultures have no objection to the food fortification process.
• One of the biggest benefits of food fortification is that it doesn’t change the taste, the feel or the look of the foods in most cases.
• The process of food fortification is a quick one. You can get it done in short order.
• Even the results of food fortification are visible within a few months of fortified foods as the people with a deficiency get to see improvement in their health.
• Thanks to the latest technological innovations, the food fortification process has become quite cost effective as well.
• According to a consensus, every one rupee spent on fortification leads to 9 rupees in benefits to the economy.
• Food fortification is a boon for kids, pregnant women and older adults as these groups are usually more vulnerable to vitamin deficiencies.
• People who follow special diets like vegans practicing veganism can benefit if they have foods that are fortified with vitamin B-12. 

CAUTION

Though there are many benefits of food fortification, there is a need to ensure that consumers stay away from fortified foods that are heavily processed or packaged. These kinds of foods are loaded with high fat, sugar and sodium content.

Even if your meals are loaded with fortified foods, you still need to ensure that you have a varied and well-rounded diet which includes fresh fruits, vegetables, and other whole foods. Food fortification or enrichment should never replace a healthy and balanced diet!